Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

476 ESSEDA. EVICTIO.
gills, or fraternities for mutual aid, among the an- Accoi'ding t6 the account given by Cilesar (Bell.
clont Saxons, resembled the eppavou of the Greeks. Gall. iv. 33), and agreeably to the remarks of Dio.(Turner's Hist. of tice Anglo-Saxons, iv. 10.) Corn- dorus Siculus (v. 21, 29), the method of using the
pare also the a&yr'al, or love-feasts of the early essedum in the ancient British army was very
Christians. similar to the practice of the Greeks in the heroic
The word repaos is often used metaphorically, to ages, as described by Homer, and in the article
signify any contributions or friendly advance of CuRUrs. The principal difference seems to have
money. [C. R. K.] been that the essedum was stronger and more
ERGA'STULUIM was a private prison attached ponderous than the Wipos, that it was open before
to most Roman farns, called career austicus by instead of behind; and that in consequence of
Juvenal (xiv. 24), where the slaves were made to these circumstances and the width of the pole, the
work in chains. It appears to have been usually owner was able, whenever he pleased, to run
under ground, and according to Columella (i. 6) along the pole (de tenzone Britanno excidet, Juv. iv.
ought to be lighted by narrow windows, which 125), and even to raise himself upon the yoke,
should be too high from the ground to be touched and then to retreat with the greatest speed into
by the hand. The slaves confined in an ergastu- the body of the car, which he drove with extralum were also employed to cultivate the fields in ordinary swiftness and skill. From the extremity
chains. (Plin. II. N. xviii. 7. ~ 4; Flor. iii. 19.) of the pole, he threw his mlissiles, especially the
Slaves who had displeased their masters were cateia (Val. Flacc. zArgon. vi. 83). It appears
punished by imprisonment in the ergastulum; and also that these cars were purposely made as noisy
in the same place all slaves who could not be de- as possible, probably by the creaking and clanging.
pended upon or were barbarous in their habits, were of the wheels (strepit rotarmcen, Caes. 1. c.; com-:
regularly kept. A trustworthy slave had the care pare Tacit. lAgqric. 35; Esseda cnultisonora, Claud.
of the ergastulum, and was therefore called eygast2da- Fpi. iv.); and that this was done in order to
rius. (Colam. i. 8.) According to Plutarch (Tib. strike dismay into the enemy. The formidable
Graccch. 8), these prisons arose in consequence of British warriors who drove these chariots, the
the conquest of Italy by the Romans, and the';car-borne" of Ossian, were called in Latin
great number of barbarous slaves who were em- ssecsdarii. (Caes. B. G. iv. 24; Cic. ad Facm. vii.
ployed to cultivate the conquered lands. In the 6.) There were about 4000 of them in the army:
time of Hadrian and Antoninus, many enactments of Cassibelaunus. (Caes. B. G. v. 19.) Having
were made to ameliorate the condition of slaves; been captured, they were sometimes exhibited in
and among other salutary measures, Hadrian abo- the gladiatorial shows at Rome, and seem to have
lished the ergastula, which must have been liable been great favourites with the people. (Sueton.
to great abuse in the hands of tyrannical masters. Calig. 35, Claud. 21.) They must have held the
(Spart. Hadrian, 18, compared with Gaius, i. 53.) highest rank in the armies of their own country;*
For further information on the subject, see Bris- and Tacitus (Azgric. 12) observes that the driver of
sonius, Antiq. Select. ii. 9; Lipsius, tElect. ii. 15, the car ranked above his fighting. companion,
Opera, vol. i. p. 317, &c.; Gottling, Gesch. der which was the reverse of the Greek usage.
s4m7. Staatsv. p. 135. The essedunl was adopted for purposes of conERI'CIUS, a military engine full of sharp venience and luxuryamnong the Romans. (Propert.
spikes, which was placed by the gate of the camp ii. 1. 76; Cic. ad llrt. vi. 1; Ovid. Acn. ii. 16,
to prevent the approach of the eneIny. (Caes. 49.) Cicero (Palil. ii. 24) mentions the use of it
B..C. iii. 67; Sallust, aped Non. xviii. 16; Lipsius, on one occasion by the tribune of the people as a
Poliorcet. v. 4.) piece of extravagance; but in the time of Seneca,
EROGA'TIO. [AQuAEDuCTUS, p. 115, a.] it seems to have been much more common; for
IERO'TIA or EROTI'DIA (ipwrca or IPWar- he (Epist. 57) reckons the sound of the " essedae
8am), the most solemn of all the festivals celebrated transcurrentes" among those noises which did not
in the Boeotian townl of Thespiae. It took place distract him. As used iby the Romans, the esseevery fifth year, and in honour of Eros, the prin- durn may have differed from the cisium in this;
cipal divinity of the Thespians. Respecting the that the cisiumn was drawn by one horse (see wobdparticulars nothing is known, except that it was cut, p. 288), the essedum always by a pair. The
solemnised with contests in mnsic and gymnastics. essedmn, like the cisium, appears to have been
(Plut. Amat. 1; Paus. ix. 31. ~ 3; Athen. xiii. kept for hire at the post-houses or stations (Salop. 561.) The worship of Eros seems to have beeL neo quinzto essedo videbis, Mart.x. 104.) [MANSIO.]
established at Thespian from the earliest times; The essedum must have been similar to the Coviand the ancient symbolic representation of the god, NUs, except that the latter had a cover. [J. Y.]
a rude stone (&apyb AitOos), continued to be looked ESSEDA'RII. [EssEDA.]
upon with particular reverence even when sculp- EVI'CTIO. If the purchaser of a thing was
ture had attained the highest degree of perfection deprived of it by a third person by legal process
among the Greeks. (Paus. ix. 27. ~ 1; compare (evicted), the seller was bound to make good the
Schol. ad Pind. Olynp. vii. 154; Ritschl, in the loss (evictionemn preestale). If the seller knew
R/hein. Mcus. vol. ii. p. 106.) [L. S.] that he was selling what was not his own, this
ERRHEPHO'RIA or ERSEPHO'RIA (e;- was a case of dolus, and he was bound in case of
Pr/Spopla or lprreajdppa.) [ARREPHORIA.] eviction to make good to the purchaser all loss and
ESCHARA (rclxdpa). [Focus.] damage that he sustained. If there was no dolus
E'SSEDA or E'SSEDUM (from the Celtic on the part of the seller, he was simply bound to
Ess, a carriage, Ginzrot, vol. i. p. 377), the name make good to the purchaser the value of the thing
of a chariot used, especially in war, by the Britons, at the time of eviction. It was enecessary -for the.
the Gauls and Belgae (Virg. Geory. iii. 204; Ser- purchaser to neglect no proper means of defence,
arids, ael loc.); and also by the Germans (Pers. vi. when an attempt was made to evict him; and it
47)., was his duty to give the seller notice of the ad.